303 - Alliances
by hyperpsychomaniac
Summary: Mark faces the prospect of returning to school and Ace tries to convince Fear that they need to work together in order to defeat Kilobyte.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: **The third installment of my attempt to write a season three for Ace Lightning. I've been playing with a new writing program I got when I was writing this. Not sure if it helped or not, it's probably more suited to larger projects. But it makes me organised, which is an accomplishment in itself. Enjoy the fic and please review. :)

* * *

_It's been a long week, Pete. I thought that I was through the worst of it once I'd finished with all the police interviews. It's almost impossible to believe that what came next had slipped my mind. But after everything that happened I can hardly think straight, so maybe it isn't such a surprise. But I've got to face it now, no matter how much I want to run from it, no matter how much I think I can't. Pete, after everything that's happened... now... now I've got to go back to school._

* * *

Mark threw his bag into his locker with more force than he had intended. No one was staring at him. They weren't talking about him. It was just his imagination that the conversations in the packed corridor had died as he walked past the huddled groups of high school students.

Mark closed his locker door, glanced across and made eye contact with Wayne. He didn't mean to. The other boy was half the corridor away, but still managed to catch his gaze. Wayne held if for a moment, and then broke in to a grin. "Hey check it out everyone," he shouted. "Hollander made bail!"

Mark started fumbling with his locker door again. Unfortunately, it wasn't large enough to hide in, or at that very moment he would have quite happily crawled inside and remained there for the entire day.

"Quit blocking the corridor, Wayne." Chuck walked past Wayne and gave the other boy a rather unnecessary shove.

"What the... did anyone else see that?"

Chuck kept walking and stopped at Mark's locker. "Dude, the congestion in here..."

"Thanks, Chuck."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Chuck shrugged. "Hey, but how's everything going? I haven't seen you all week..."

"I have been kind of busy..."

"Look, I know, dude. But you're not, you know, in trouble for being there..."

"With the law? No, Chuck. I... I think it was fairly obvious I didn't do... what happened..."

"Man..." Chuck shook his head. "I know I never really had a job, and I know he spied on us and everything, but I can't believe Rick's gone. I mean... you saw. What did Kilobyte..."

"I've just spent the last week telling the cops about it Chuck; I don't need to be interrogated!"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Chuck held up his hands.

Mark sighed. "Sorry."

"No, dude. I mean it, I get it. But look, if it isn't already obvious, it's not exactly a secret what happened. And I think Kat knows you said something about visiting her being why you were out at night..."

"What else was I supposed to say?!"

"I know! But... just a heads up."

Mark hugged the books he'd retrieved close to his chest. "I'm not so sure coming was a good idea..."

"Relax, dude," Chuck patted him on the shoulder. "Chuckie's got your back."

* * *

Mark managed to avoid any direct contact with Kat until lunch time. Truth be told, he was attempting to avoid contact with most people. Chuck had been giving death stares to anyone who looked even mildly interested, which hadn't really been helpful. But at least those seemed to have kept Wayne at bay.

It was as he sat down to eat in the cafeteria that Kat slid into the chair next to him. "Hey there, Hollander."

Mark tensed and swallowed hard. He'd been mentally preparing for this all day. "Kat... I... listen, I know you're probably mad at me and, but, I had to... well can you think of any other believable reason a teenager has to be out at night?"

Kat frowned. "Mark, you don't have to explain. Sure, I had a bit of a run in with my mom over whether I actually knew anything about boys coming to visit me in the middle of the night... and I expect you're not going to be invited over to dinner anytime soon. Look, I get that something happened with Ace... and that guy being found dead in his store has been all over the news. I can connect the dots. Mark..." she reached out a hand and grabbed his arm. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

Mark let out a huff and put his head into one hand. "I'm..."

"Mark?"

Mark looked at her and gave a faint smile. "I'm glad you're not mad."

Kat returned it. "What about you? I mean, your parents... are they..."

"I don't think my parents have figured out what to do with me just yet. I don't think they know... "

* * *

At the Thunder Tower, Sparx was sitting at the desk, poking some of the equipment that Chuck had left. She was trying to distract herself. If it wasn't bad enough that Ace and Lady Illusion had taken over use of the ping pong table, the television, and the chess board, now they were doing something on the sofa that didn't look quite right.

"Are you sure this is how we're supposed to do it?" Ace's voice came from across the room.

The desk was about as far enough away from that sofa she could get without having to leave the Thunder Tower. From there Sparx could see the back of the sofa, and hear both Ace and Lady Illusion discussing their current endeavour.

"Try pulling this off," said Lady Illusion. "It was what I saw them doing on the television."

"Righteo." Ace stood up briefly so he was visible to Sparx, and then he disappeared again. He grunted and the sofa wobbled around a bit. A cushion went flying up into the air.

"It didn't look this hard when they were doing it..." said Lady Illusion.

"Hang on... I may be stuck..."

The entire sofa suddenly flung itself up into the air, flipped twice and crashed to the floor.

"Ha!" said Ace. "I got one."

Lady Illusion glanced across at the sofa. "You wouldn't think it would be that difficult. The human on the television just put a hand down the back of his chair and came up with a coin straight away."

Ace was indeed holding up a coin. He frowned at it in the light. "This isn't a doom dime."

"Really?" Lady Illusion took it off him. "That's not much good, is it?"

"Not like we can spend doom dimes here anyway... and technically with the sixth dimension being just a game..."

"Yes, this is true..."

"Really guys?! The sofa?!" Sparx stood up. "I sit on that."

"Hmm..." Ace glanced across at the sofa. It didn't quite look straight anymore, and it was sitting on its head. "Maybe I should ask Chuck how to get a new one. There's really not room for all three of us anyway."

"I don't need to sit on the sofa with you!" Sparx growled. "It's just... urgh, you're always... sitting on everything. Both of you! I'm trying really hard, but you do kind of take over the whole Thunder Tower sometimes..."

"Okay, maybe the sofa," Ace admitted. "How are we supposed to take over the whole Thunder Tower?"

"I don't know, you just do."

Lady Illusion folded her arms. "Maybe it would be a good idea to have some house rules..."

"Hey, don't go getting too bossy, Lady. We've lived here longer than you."

Lady Illusion raised an eyebrow. "I didn't throw the sofa."

Ace sighed. "I didn't throw it; I got stuck... Okay, so we've all got to live here. No matter how long we've been here. So what are we going to do?"

* * *

He wasn't quite sure how he'd done it, but somehow Mark had made it through the school day. No one had said or done anything to make him uncomfortable since Wayne's announcement. He'd finally arrived home, but he had no intention of staying there. The past week had been hectic, and the Hollanders hadn't really had the time to talk. Mark was dreading what any talking might entail. The boy had gone upstairs and dumped his gear, and now he crept back down, looking to see if his parents were around. They were nowhere to be seen. He let out a sigh, headed to the backdoor, and nearly ran into his father, who was just now coming in.

"Mark..." Simon appeared briefly startled and forced a smile.

"Ah... hi, dad. I was just going out..." Mark shuffled his feet.

Simon's smile faded a bit. "Oh... well, I was just going to ask you how your first day back at school went?"

"After I got accused of murder, you mean?" The words came out more sharply than Mark had intended.

Simon closed his eyes briefly. "Mark, no one for a second thought you did that... you were just there, they had to question you." He paused before adding: "I mean it was suspicious you were there..."

"We've been over this, dad! In an interrogation room!"

Simon let out a sigh. "Mark, look, when I was your age I had a run in with the police. I wasn't exactly truthful with them. But it was over a few stolen candy bars, not a man's life..."

Mark's words came out in a rush. "Dad, are you saying you think I lied on a police statement? Why would I do that? I'm smart enough to know if I got caught out I'd be in world of trouble... so why would I, because I didn't!"

"I know, I..." Simon took his son by the shoulders. "I know, Mark. But... your mum and I... you know you can tell us anything, right?"

For the briefest of moments Mark stared at his father, and then he shrugged off the man's touch and pushed past him. "I wish..."

"Mark!" Simon snapped.

Mark drew to a halt with his hand on the back door, waiting for the reprimand.

Simon still had his back to his son. His shoulders slumped. "Make sure you're home by seven," he said quietly.

"Sure, dad..."

* * *

When Mark finally walked into the Thunder Tower that afternoon it had changed. Just a little. The sofa (which looked a little sadder than it normally did) had been pushed into one corner with the television. And the transformer had a large square marked out around it in black duct tape with 'power-up zone' taped out in big, black letters. Mark gave this a wide berth, though he had never considered it overly dangerous before.

Sparx was sitting slouched, her chin resting on one hand propped on the desk. She had a scowl on her face that wasn't quite her usual bored expression.

"Are you guys redecorating?" Mark asked cautiously.

Sparx let out a sigh. "Fat lot of good it did. I didn't think of mentioning noise rules..."

There was music blaring from a boom box which was sitting roughly in the middle of the floor. Ace and Lady Illusion were dancing around the Thunder Tower, apparently oblivious to anything else that was going on.

"They seem to like doing that..."

"Yeah, with no thought to how annoying it is for everyone else."

Ace twirled Lady Illusion around and then caught sight of Mark. "Hey, kid." He let Lady Illusion down gently and then flew the short distance to Mark. "I haven't seen you all week... are you alright?"

Mark let out a sigh. "Ace, I had to talk to the police. It's not like you; you can just hide out here like nothing happened..."

"I'm not hiding, kid," Ace said with a frown. But then he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "But I have talked with Chuck. I don't exactly understand what you had to do, but I get that I left you with a lot of stuff to deal with. I'm sorry."

Mark smiled faintly. "Thanks, Ace."

"And there's plenty of room at the Thunder Tower if things get too stressful..."

"Thanks," Mark frowned, "but I can't actually do that..."

Sparx let out a groan. "Seriously, we have room? It's crowded enough in here already!"

"Sparx," Ace growled, "I thought we worked this out already?"

Sparx got up from the desk and stomped around to face Ace. She threw a hand into the air in the general direction of the Tower's recent 'improvements'. "Ace you moved the sofa... and I don't know what you did to the transformer..."

"You both toss electricity around every time you use that," threw in Lady Illusion. "It's safer..."

"Lightning Knights are talking here, Lady!"

"I thought you two worked that out too!" Ace snapped. "Don't shout at her."

"I can defend myself, Ace..."

"Will everyone just stop shouting?!" Mark burst in. "My parents have been yelling at each other all week, do I have to put up with this too? God..." He sunk into the chair Sparx had vacated and covered his face with one hand.

Ace frowned down at the boy for a moment and then turned his attention to Sparx. "If you're going to cause trouble," he growled softly. "Maybe you could do it at the Carnival?"

"This is my fault?" Sparx snapped, though she too had lowered her voice. "You know what, whatever. But don't expect me to go to the Carnival and get pieces of the amulet whilst you two sit around here and trash sofas and dance."

Ace had calmed a bit. "It's not your fault, maybe we all just need some space... I don't know, go see Random or something..."

Sparx raised an eyebrow. "Wow. I've been here longer than her, and now I'm regulated to the junkyard? Good to know where I stand, Ace."

"Sparx, I'm not..."

"Whatever, I'm going." Sparx whistled down the Lightning Flash and zipped off through the roof.

Ace groaned. "Sorry, kid..."

Mark leaned back in the chair and sighed. "I'm fine, Ace. But... have you guys really just been hanging around here and... trashing sofas... I'm not sure I should ask..."

Ace shrugged. "What else can we do? We're just a game. What's the point of doing what the programming says if it's pointless?"

"Because it's not."

"My programming tells me to serve Fear," said Lady Illusion. She took Ace by the arm. "But... despite it not being real... right now I'm happy... we don't need to follow our programming."

"I know. But I'm not talking about programming. Kilobyte... whatever he wants, he's powerful. The game might not be real, but it still exists. Heck, it's nearly killed me any number of times, and..." Mark swallowed. "It killed Rick. Kilobyte is dangerous. And so's the game. It's powerful. So's that amulet. If we want to defeat Kilobyte wouldn't it be a good idea to have some pieces?"

"Maybe," said Ace. "To be honest, bringing some more knights here seems cruel. We'd be bringing them out only to tell them it's not real."

"And what about if Kilobyte gets what he wants?"

"What does he want?" Illusion asked.

"He wants revenge," said Ace. "But I think he also wants to help us... in some sort of twisted way."

Mark frowned. "He tried to destroy you, Ace. Why would he want to help you?"

"Rick tried to destroy us," said Ace. "And then Kilobyte did on his own terms, but only because we got in his way. This time, he tried very hard to convince me I wanted the same thing he did. And he may do the same thing with Fear. We may not need the amulet, but I think we do need to go to the Carnival."

"To...? " Mark pressed.

"To talk to Fear. Maybe the programming doesn't matter. And if so, I might have a chance of convincing him we need to defeat Kilobyte and lock him back up in the video game."

"Ace," Lady Illusion growled. "Don't be foolish, Fear betrayed you once already, even if he agrees to do this he could do so again."

"It's worth a shot. It's better than Kilobyte getting to him."

"Perhaps. But it'll be dangerous..."

"You don't have to come. I can talk to him alone."

"That's not what I meant. I meant it'll be dangerous for you. But if you're convinced this is what you want to do, then I've got your back. Might be better if I'm concealed though... I think my presence might upset him after out last encounter."

Mark frowned. "Wait, what did you do to Fear?"

Lady Illusion shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing much. I threw a few energy spheres at him; think I may have embarrassed him."

Ace looked at her and grinned. "She's a keeper."


	2. Chapter 2

It was late in the afternoon when Sparx dropped the Lightning Flash into the junkyard. Long shadows crawled up dilapidated vehicles and mounds of discarded metal. The temperature was dropping already.

"Random..." Sparx called as she slipped off her vehicle.

"If you've come to have a 'conversation' again, you can go away!" The voice came from the back of the junkyard.

Sparx winced. "Which side are you, Random?"

"The one that's asking you to go away." It was said softer than the initial reprimand.

Sparx crept carefully into the depths of the junkyard.

Random Virus was leaning against the front of a car. He was focused on the back wall, which the car's headlights had illuminated. These flicked off as Sparx came around the corner, the slight crackle of electricity running across them indicating that Random had them under his direct control. "Typical, you don't listen. I could be evil..."

"Yeah, well, your evil side doesn't seem to have a sense of humour. Not a good one anyway. Lucky guess."

Random grunted in response, and the headlights came on again.

"What are you..." Sparx began.

There was a scrabble of movement from the back wall, and a bundle of fur leapt up at where one of the headlight beams had created a large circle of light. Claws clattered briefly on the sheet iron wall.

"Is that a cat?"

Random sighed. "Yes, it's a cat. It keeps turning up here, but if I do this it doesn't try and sleep on me."

"I thought you were a dog person?"

"Maybe my evil side is a dog person."

"You're awfully grumpy today, lugnut."

Random let out a sigh and pushed off the car's bonnet. The headlights flicked off and there was a brief mew of protest from the cat. "Sparx, you came in here and told me I wasn't real. That we all weren't. Was that true?"

"Yeah."

"So, what have you come to tell me now? That this world isn't real either?"

"No... jeesh. Look, Lady Illusion's back, and I'll admit it, she's one of the good guys now. But that means she gets to live in the Thunder Tower. It's crowded; I can't stay in there. And Ace is being a complete jerk about the whole thing."

"Sparx, the cat is bad enough. But you do realise I only have a four foot square shack, and it's probably going to snow?"

"I don't want to stay in your shack! I just wanted to have a... conversation. I need someone to talk to."

Random growled and rolled across the junkyard.

The bundle of fur followed and sprung off the back of his wheel, then dashed and hid next to a car tyre.

"Random, come on... look, I get you're upset about being a game. But everyone is too. I... I'd like to think Ace and I have a fairly good... working relationship. But I can't talk to him. He and Lady Illusion... they're happy together. They don't care they're not real. You..."

"I have nothing to be happy about, so I probably wont mind listening to you whinge, is that it?"

"What? No! I'm not whinging! You think you're the only who has problems? At least I don't hide in a junkyard!"

Random let out a sigh. "And what are your problems, exactly? Asides from having to look at Lady Illusion with Ace?"

"That's not a problem, it's just the too many housemates..."

"I was stuck behind a forceshield with you; I heard you and that mortal girl..."

"You were unconscious!"

"... mostly."

"Oh, Zoar damn it!" Sparx sat down on the bonnet of a nearby car and put her head in her hands.

Random eyed her for a moment. "It wasn't intentional. Sorry."

Sparx let out a sigh. "Okay. So maybe it kind of sucks... but I'm not stupid, lugnut. That's a closed door. But they're annoying. And I still don't know how I feel about not being real."

Random rolled over and leaned against the car next to her. "You can still fly wherever you want. You have to worry about being seen, maybe, but you don't have to worry about flipping out and hurting someone. And the Thunder Tower may be crowded, but at least it doesn't leak."

"Doesn't have a cat though."

"The game... it was created by these mortals, right?"

"Right..."

Random's claw clunked. "What were they thinking?"

"Random..."

"Sparx," he countered. "If I could get my claw on whoever was responsible..."

"Bit late. Kilobyte killed him. The mortal that made all this happen."

"Pity..." Random's voice had taken on an edge. "To think they can just create something for thier amusement..."

"It was a game... that's like saying Ace and I shouldn't play chess..."

The car they were both leaning on jerked and Random shuddered.

Sparx glanced across to see his right eye flickering unsteadily from green to red and back again.

She shifted her weight. "Random...?"

Random grunted and put a hand to his face. "They need to... know what they've done..."

Sparx slid off the bonnet. "Maybe I should..."

"Don't," Random snapped. He lowered the hand and his eye was glowing bright red. "Run."

Sparx almost did; her muscles tensed. But cowards ran. And though the sentence had been split between his two sides, she understood, just in time. _Don't run._

Random glared at her for a moment, as if daring her to do so.

Sparx leaned back against the car and folded her arms. "I'm not going anywhere, lugnut."

The cat had wandered out into the open, and was now staring at them both with yellow eyes, its tail flicking angrily from side to side. It made a low growl in its throat, but it didn't run either.

"These mortals have used us. They made me this weak... creature..." Random held up his claw and rattled it, then let it fall to his side. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't make them pay."

"You're a lightning knight..."

Random gave a half-smile. "Lightning knights don't exist, remember?"

"Okay then. But we do. And I can't see the Random Virus I know going around hurting innocent mortals."

"Ignorance isn't the same as innocence," Random growled.

Sparx paused for a moment, her mouth hanging open as she searched for a response.

"The man makes a valid point, doesn't he?" The third voice came from above the two knights. Sparx and Random both looked up to see the descending shape of a winged monster. Kilobyte brought Fred in for a landing, touching down softly on the dirt floor.

The cat hissed and bolted under a stack of cars.

"Kilobyte!" said Sparx. "What do you want?"

Kilobyte broke into a grin. "Who me? Why, I just want to talk."

* * *

Ace landed behind the sideshow booths at the Carnival. He'd given Mark and Lady Illusion a chance to get down here before him. A quick check into the Carnival midway, and Ace spotted Mark leading a young woman around the stalls.

This woman had just paused at one of the booths, and was eyeing a small plastic water pistol that she'd just won. She turned it over in her hands, and then put the tip to her lips and chewed it tentatively.

Mark caught sight of her and dashed over, pulling it away from her and talking animatedly. As far as Ace could gather without being able to hear him, it wasn't food.

Lady Illusion frowned and then caught sight of Ace. She smiled at him, and then shrugged. Ace nodded in her direction, and her gaze became serious. She nodded in return and then said something to Mark. They would both be here for him if he needed. But Ace was not here to fight Fear. With any luck, all that would be required of them would be to hang around the midway.

"Stay safe, you two," Ace muttered to himself. Then he slipped back behind the booths and made his way to the Haunted House.

He didn't get far. Announcing himself with a very loud roar, Anvil appeared in front of the knight. "Anvil smash you!"

Ace rolled his eyes. "You know, that's not really necessary... not sure if your boss is keeping you up to date, but there's no reason for us to fight."

"Anvil don't care! Anvil like smashing things! Anvil smash trash cans! Anvil smash bottles! Anvil smash Ace Lightning!"

Ace sighed and powered up his wrist cannons. "Must be nice to have such simple needs." He sent a blast of lightning into Anvil and the minion fizzled out.

"Now..." Green energy slammed into his shoulder and knocked Ace to his knees. The knight grunted and looked up. Lord Fear stood above him, staring down with a look of disinterest. "Fear... I'm not here to fight..."

Lord Fear powered down Staff Head. "Oh, I know that. Just thought I'd get a blast in before I had to listen to more of your drivel. Last time you decided you wanted a little chat I can't say I enjoyed it."

Ace stood to his feet and rolled his shoulder. "So... how's that working for... everyone..."

Fear scowled. "Let's get one thing straight, you dim-witted assassin of joy. Just because you brought it to my attention that our existence up until our entry into this dimension was less than consequential does not mean we are now... friends."

Ace frowned briefly. "Sorry...?"

"He still hates you," Staff Head said.

"I got that much."

"I'll make you a deal, Lightning. You wish to talk? Fine. But don't irritate me, and I'll try to use small words."

"Sounds good to me, bonehead."

Staff Head drew in a sharp breath and began to glow green. "He just..."

"Kilobyte's back."

Lord Fear dragged his totem back to his side, cutting short the build of energy. "Kilobyte, but how?"

"Look, long story... he somehow got through when we brought Lady Illusion back out of the game..."

Fear snorted. "Oh, so I have you to thank for that do I? If you're going to take away my lady, fine. But once you do so, do you think you could keep her on a shorter leash?"

Ace scowled. "That isn't my call, Fear. And you should be less worried about her being here than Kilobyte!"

"Let me guess. You want my help to send him back? Perhaps you should clean up your own mess."

"Fear, he's dangerous. He killed a mortal!"

Lord Fear raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Staff Head snickered. "Wasn't your little pet, was it? Hate to say it, but I think I'd miss him. He was rather amusing when startled."

"No!" Ace's hands had tensed into fists. "The one I was telling you about. The programmer."

Staff Head grinned. "Oh, now I understand, my lord. Lightning doesn't want us to help him fight Kilobyte, he wants us to 'elp throw him a party."

"This is deadly serious," Ace growled.

"Oh, I can see that," said Fear. "What I don't understand is why you think I care. In fact, I am struggling to see why you should care. You are naive moron, Ace Lightning, but I would have thought you had at least some sense."

"You want to talk sense, Fear? Okay, here goes: Kilobyte has killed one mortal; that means he's capable of killing more. He's capable of getting rid of you and me too."

"And why would he do that? You or I didn't create him for entertainment. And I have no intention of getting in his way."

Ace let out a sigh. "He's tried to convince me to join him. I'm sure that at some stage he'll try convince you too."

"Well, perhaps I will join him. It certainly sounds better than your proposition."

"You're not Kilobyte, Fear. I don't think you're capable of what... what I saw Kilobyte do to that man. And if you really wanted to take it out on these mortals... you're in a Carnival. There are hundreds of them here already, every day. If you wanted to hurt them, you'd have done so, and you wouldn't wait around for Kilobyte to come and tell you to do it."

"No, I wouldn't. Congratulations, Lightning. You have a grasp of basic logic. But neither am I going to let you come here and tell me what I should do. I know you care about these mortals. You did even before you had those pathetic human emotions. It's still not a good enough reason for you to come and harass me!" Fear lifted up Staff Head.

Ace kept his hands by his sides. "Don't you want to make Kilobyte pay for what he did to you?"

Fear lowered Staff Head ever so slightly.

"He made you look like a fool. And you're telling me you're just going to let him stomp all over this dimension? Again? Perhaps I shouldn't have told you about the game; all the fight's gone out of you..."

"You're not going to let him get away..." Staff Head started.

But Lord Fear had started to chuckle faintly. "Ace Lightning, you're straying dangerously from your programming." The skeleton's neck shot out suddenly, and he was right in the superhero's face. "I like it."

Ace took a half step back. "I'm telling you what you want to hear, Lord Fear. Nothing more."

"Yes, yes you are. But that requires you to understand what I want to hear. These human emotions... I think they've made you more... interesting."

"What'll it be, Fear?"

"Hmm..." Fear drew back in his neck, and began to study Staff Head in his hands. "I admit it, to take down Kilobyte after everything he did to me would be glorious. But I also understand how dangerous he is. You say he'll come to speak to me too? Clever, Ace Lightning, getting here first... but I like to know all my options before I make such a monumental decision..."

"This isn't a game, Fear!"

"My, isn't that a poor choice of words," chuckled Staff Head.

Fear smiled at his totem, then with a sudden movement pointed him at Ace and sent a brief blast of green energy into the knight's middle.

Ace didn't expect it, and dropped to the floor with a startled gasp.

"Do not come to my domain and pressure me, you callow fool! I will do as I see fit, and not a moment sooner than I am ready. Really, throw around words like revenge and expect me to be at your beck and call?" Fear pointed Staff Head at the knight again; any movement from Ace and he could blast him before that movement threatened him. "I will give you this, and this only; you make a valid point. And if I choose to take down Kilobyte, yes, I admit it, I will probably need your help. When I make that decision I will let you know. But come to my turf again to manipulate me, and I will make you regret it."

Ace stood slowly to his feet, and Fear tracked his movement upwards with Staff Head still pressed almost to his belly. "Fear..." Ace began.

Staff Head glowed brighter.

"Leave," Lord Fear growled.

Ace glared for a moment, but then took off into the sky, his body flickering slightly.

"You'd really consider working with Lightning?" Staff Head asked cautiously. "I mean, without blasting him when it's all said and done, I mean."

"We are but mortal entertainment, my loyal staff," Fear growled. "What governed our actions before is no longer relevant. At the moment, I will consider anything."

* * *

The lightning around Sparx's sword glowed bright pink. In the gathering darkness it was the only source of light in the junkyard save the two yellow eyes blinking from under a car, and the one red that glowed steadily beside her.

"So you've finally come out for a real fight, huh tentacles?"

"Whilst I understand the need to keep on the brave face," Kilobyte growled. "I am not here to fight. Not if you put that away."

Sparx let out a low growl, but then powered down the sword.

"I'll make it simple; I've come to ask you to join me."

"Simple?" Sparx laughed. "Simply stupid. You're dreaming."

"Not at all. We are all more awake then we have ever been. And it's time to put that to use..."

"You killed a mortal," said Sparx.

"Yes. The one who created and then manipulated us. You may have begun life as a compilation of ones and zeroes, Sparx. But you are now more. Don't let these mortals continue to control you."

"No ones controlling me."

"Lightning knights don't harm mortals. It's in the code. That's another name for programming. You are still running according to your programming."

"The mortals," Random's voice cut in. "... what do you want to do to them?"

"I will enslave them. Let them know what we went through."

"It would be fitting..."

"Random! Don't listen to him!"

"We could find a Buzzbeast. Let one of them know what it's like to lose a fight to that... without the ability to simply respawn, of course."

Random flinched, and his eye briefly flickered to green and then back again.

"I am giving you both a chance," Kilobyte growled. He had begun to pace in front of his winged steed as he spoke. "That fool, Ace Lightning, already had his. And he made it very clear where he stood. He protected the very man who had manipulated him. I'm hoping one, or both, of you will see reason."

Sparx watched him for a moment before finally saying firmly: "I honestly don't know why Ace tried to help that guy, but I'm not going to hurt any other mortals because of him. I know plenty more of them, and they're all good kids. I've got no beef with them or anyone else. Maybe just you..."

Kilobyte turned away from her then, and glared at Random. "And what about you? I feel like I'm actually giving you a second chance, here. I asked you once, before the last battle. But then, you do have two sides; two chances is only fair."

Random looked away and shuddered; his eye flickered between red and green. "It would be so easy to just let it go, and tear them all apart..."

Kilobyte smiled. "Of course. You have been wronged more than most of us. Even as you fight this now, this war inside your mind, the constant struggle or two programs, I can see the pain it causes you. Revenge will dull it, and if your goal is to tear those who inhabit this world apart, then there is no reason to hide. What they did makes them cowards; you should destroy them."

"Random, don't listen to him!" Sparx said again. She moved towards them, but Kilobyte whipped out a tentacle and knocked her to the ground.

"This is his decision! Not yours!"

Sparx pushed herself back up. "All your crap about not following the programming, Kilobyte? All you're doing is manipulating his! He doesn't care what you feel Random, he just wants to use you!"

"I said be quiet!"

"Leave him alone, Kilobyte!" Sparx put her fingers to her mouth and gave a sharp whistle. The Lightning Flash dove in and ploughed into Kilobyte, knocking the man into a stack of junk.

Fred buzzed angrily at the sudden attack.

"Random!" Sparx jumped up and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You don't have to do what he says; what anyone says. Just... just... how do you think you're going to feel after tearing up a bunch of mortals?"

Random drew in a shuddering breath and his eye flickered to green, but it struggled to maintain that glow. "I ... I can't..."

There was a roar and Kilobyte threw off the offending vehicle. "Fools, all of you!"

Random's eye flickered between red and green. He couldn't seem to focus and then he looked at Sparx. "Sparx... help me..."

"Virus, make up your mind!" Kilobyte growled.

Sparx hadn't let go of the other knight's shoulders. "You know you can't do this."

Random looked straight at Sparx, and his eye settled on green. "I... No. No, Kilobyte, I won't join you."

Kilobyte scowled. "So be it." His tentacles shot out and snagged the toppled Lightning Flash. He hurled this across the junkyard at the two knights.

Sparx ducked and it flew over her head.

Kilobyte took all four of his tentacles and hooked them under the stack of junk behind him. At least three car hulks and numerous, unidentifiable bits of metal made up the stack, but he lifted these with ease and flung them across the yard as well. The debris knocked both lightning knights to the ground, burying them from sight. Kilobyte drew his tentacles back in, his chest was heaving.

Fred moved over to its master and buzzed.

"It's alright, my pet. They weren't useful to me."

A small hiss drew Kilobyte's attention. The cat had come out from its hiding place and stood in front of him, eyeing him warily. Kilobyte smiled slowly, then reached forward and lifted the animal by the scruff of the neck. It was only small, not much more than a kitten. It apparently didn't like to be held, because it let out another hiss as Kilobyte lifted it to eye level.

"Now, there's no need for that," Kilobyte said soothingly. He reached out a tentacle and waved it in front of the cat.

This settled any discomfort the animal apparently felt. Its eyes widened and it batted at the new toy with tiny front paws.

Kilobyte watched it with a smile. The small creature seemed to dissipate any rage he still felt. "Now you," he said softly. "You I think will be useful."


	3. Chapter 3

"I still think you should have alerted us."

Ace pulled his hands off the transformer with a sigh. He turned around and nearly bumped into Lady Illusion. She was closer than he expected, standing there with her arms folded and frowning at him.

"You're in the power-up zone," he said, pointing at the tape on the ground.

Lady Illusion's glare did not falter.

"Okay, okay... I know you were there to help, I'm sorry. But Fear wasn't going to blast me. He was just... posturing. I've fought him for long enough, I know what he's doing."

"It sounds like he caught you off guard. I know Fear too, and the only reason he wouldn't have followed through is because he didn't want to; what you did had nothing to do with it. Of course, I didn't know for sure, because I was distracted by that pink stuff..."

"Cotton candy?"

Lady Illusion waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever. I should have come to your aid."

Ace sighed. "I know what I'm doing..." He stomped across to the sofa and flopped into it. It creaked in protest. "I think we did break this..."

Lady Illusion sat beside him. "Ace, I'm not a lightning knight. I am not under your command and you do not out-rank me..."

"I have no intention of ordering you about."

"That's not what I meant." She took his hand. "We're a team because we want to be. And I want to protect you as much as you want to protect me."

Ace stared at the floor. "I, I get it ... but it wasn't just you. Mark was there too. After what happened at the computer shack, I feel like I need to keep him out of danger."

"So next time call if you need help. It'll do no good if you get yourself blasted back to the game. Then who'll look out for him?"

Ace smiled faintly. "You know, it was much easier when we just threw energy and insults at each other. I can't counter you when you talk sense."

"Well," Lady Illusion smirked. "Ace Lightning defeated by a few sensible words. If only Fear knew. But I can think of a few other ways I can subdue you..."

"Yeah? Like what?"

Lady Illusion moved closer so that they were nose to nose. She placed a hand on Ace's chest. "Well, there was something else I saw on the television..."

* * *

Mark skidded hard into the driveway. He'd ridden hard, and was sweating under his thick jacket, despite the chill in the air. He parked the bike next to his front door and then glanced at his watch. Six forty-five. He let out a sigh. Whilst his parents weren't too strict if he was five or ten minutes late, in light of recent events he wasn't taking any chances.

Mark pushed open the front door.

"I can't believe you, Simon!"

His mother's voice was like a stab of ice. They were fighting again. Mark froze.

"After everything that's happened you let our boy just wander out..."

"He's too old to wander out!" Simon's voice now. "He's a teenager, we've let him out later..."

"Something like this hasn't happened before. We agreed, we'd have a talk with him first and reset the boundaries…"

"What would you have me do, Fiona? Maybe lock him up and throw away the key? Might be appropriate given the circumstances... how can you be stupid enough to just walk into a bloody crime scene anyway..."

The sound of a school bag being very deliberately dropped silenced both of them. Mark had come into the dining room and was just staring at both his parents. All he had to do was get through a few more hours of this day, but now this seemed like an impossible task.

"Mark..." Fiona was standing next to the dining table. She look flustered, but on seeing her son, she relaxed. "You're home, I was worried."

Simon was seated at the table, but he was now looking at his plate and avoiding Mark's gaze.

Fiona glanced between both of them. "It's okay, sweetie. We were just talking. Dinner's almost ready..."

He couldn't do this. "I'm not hungry." He grabbed his bag, heading for the stairwell.

"Mark..." Simon's voice was strained, but there was still a note of warning in it.

"Don't worry, dad. I wasn't stupid enough to stumble into a second crime scene..."

"Mark!" This time it was his mother who reprimanded him. Simon had put his face into one hand.

Mark stomped up the stairs, his school bag slammed into the walls at least twice in his hurry but he reached the safety of his bedroom. He slammed the door behind him and leaned against it heavily. He paused, listening for any sound of pursuit. But all he heard were the somewhat fainter sounds of his parents starting the argument again. At least here he couldn't make out their words. Mark dropped his bag to the ground and drew in a breath, then he pounded a fist into the door behind him. This didn't attract his parents attention either.

* * *

"Argh..." Random Virus blinked the haze of unconsciousness away. He glanced about the junkyard warily as his senses returned to him. There was no sign of Kilobyte. The cyborg hooked the length of steel that was pinning his left arm and tossed it away. He flexed his one good hand. "Well... at least it didn't slice it off," he muttered. He righted himself and again surveyed the junkyard. It remained silent.

"Sparx?" Random called. He couldn't see her anywhere.

There was a mound of junk heaped in one corner of the junkyard, where Kilobyte had thrown it. From beneath this came a very un-Sparx-like wail.

Random jerked fully upright as the sound pierced the night air. "Sparx?! Zoar, she's hurt..."

Random rolled over to the pile and began to rip away a piece of sheet iron. "Hang on, Sparx. I'll have this off in a minute!" The iron sailed across the yard, followed by an old tyre. Random worked furiously.

"Damn it, Kilobyte!" Sparx's voice came from beneath the rubble, followed by what almost sounded like a stifled sob.

Random hooked his claw and his left hand under the last piece of rubbish - an entire, somewhat flattened, car hulk. He hurled it over his head with a grunt. It flipped twice sideways and smashed into the junkyard wall.

Sparx was on the ground, on her knees. She looked upset, but otherwise her power levels appeared fine; she wasn't even flickering. The Lightning Flash, however, which had been right beneath the stack of garbage Random had just removed, was a crumpled mess. It let out a few sparks of electricity.

Random let out a pent up breath. "Sparx! I thought he'd hurt you..."

"He did!" Sparx snapped. "Right here!" She thumped her fist into her chest. She sniffed and stood to her feet. "I can't fly without her, you know."

"I know. But it's not the end of the world."

"Can you fix her?" Sparx asked.

Random eyed the mangled machine and winced. "Er..."

"Oh, man!"

"It's not that bad," Random shrugged.

Sparx scowled at him. Then something over his shoulder caught her eye. "So, that's not that bad either?"

"What?"

Sparx pointed, and Random turned around to see that his shack had been flattened by some part of the flurry of destruction Kilobyte had caused.

Random stared at it for a moment and then his shoulders slumped. "Perfect."

"It's probably easier to fix than the 'Flash..."

"It took me a week to build it in the first place," Random grumbled.

Sparx frowned and walked over to the shack. "I mean... you might be able to..." She reached out a hand and touched one of the walls that still stood. At which it creaked, groaned, and then slumped even further to the side. "Oops..." She drew her hand back.

"This is ridiculous..."

"Sorry," Sparx winced. "I... look, if you want, you can come back to the Thunder Tower. I mean, I've got to walk anyway."

Random let out a sigh and just looked at his shack.

"I know you don't like leaving this place, and I know you're scared you're going to hurt someone... but that thing is completely trashed and like you said I think it's going to snow, and..."

"I was going to say..." Random said quietly. "That it's ridiculous to sit around in a junkyard in a paper-thin shack where I run the risk of being caught out alone by Kilobyte and have him talk me into something I'll regret because I can't tell right from wrong."

"What?"

"Sparx, I'm almost certain the only reason I didn't agree to Kilobyte's proposal was because you were here to talk sense into me."

Sparx thought about that for a moment. "Hey, you're the one who said not to run."

"Not particularly good advice, but seems it worked out..."

Sparx sighed. "Look, you can't have it both ways. Either you're going to be alone, or you're going to run the risk of hurting someone. But hey, I've always found that if you don't take risks you just get nowhere... or, in your case, almost get recruited by Kilobyte... sorry."

"Don't be. You're right. And I'm sick of being alone."

"Wait, so you're actually going to come?"

Random didn't look at her, instead staring at his crumpled shack. "I'm dangerous either way, I may as well try and do some good before I inevitably mess things up. But you have to promise me one thing."

"Sure..."

"You need to help me see things straight... and if that doesn't work, you have to send me back to the sixth dimension without hesitation."

"But it's just a game."

"Doesn't matter. If I can't get this right even with help then there's no place for me but there. At least if I destroy anything there, it won't be real."

Sparx thought for a minute. "Yeah, okay, I promise. But I'm pretty confident you'll be fine." She smiled. "I'm... I'm glad you're coming back. This place is kind of..." She twirled a hand in the air, and then looked at Random a little sheepishly.

"You can say it..."

"Pathetic, dreary, untidy... smells a bit funny too..."

"That's just oil..." Random had a faint smile as he replied.

"I can get Ace to come back for the Lightning Flash; he won't mind. But we're both going to have to walk... roll... "

Random rolled to her side. "Well... I guess I'll have to escort you then." He held out his arm.

"Pfft." Sparx snorted. "I suppose I could let you. Never know, we might pass some stairs and I'd have to make sure you don't fall down them."

"I can still navigate stairs."

"Okay: one condition though. When we get back to the Thunder Tower, if Ace and Lady Illusion cause any trouble with any housemate-type arguments... you've got to be on my side."

"Sounds fair enough."

With that Sparx took Random's arm and they headed down the darkened streets towards the Thunder Tower.

* * *

Kilobyte stroked the vibrating mass of fur he held in his arms as he stepped through the door of Rick's Computer Shack. He was certain the mortals had gone through everything they wanted to and would now leave the place alone. It wasn't as if they were a threat to him, but it did suit him to remain concealed for the time being.

There was still police tape crossed across the inner doorway, but this fluttered to the floor as Kilobyte stepped through it. The place was still cluttered, although it was obvious most everything had been riffled through. In his arms, the cat shifted and let out a low rumble.

"Easy, precious," Kilobyte said softly. "I'm right here..." He stepped into the back room and placed the cat in one corner on the floor. He stroked its head and accepted a rub before leaving it there. By this time, it was the size of a medium dog. It grumbled again, deep in its throat, and began to furiously lick its shifting fur.

Kilobyte turned his attention to the late programmer's rig. "To think, this was all it took? Such power..."

The cat meowed in reply, though it sounded more like a growl.

"Yes..." said Kilobyte absentmindedly. "It will not be easy. I will get no help from the Lightning Knights, and that means we must fight them. Fear... he may help with some incentive. But I need something more, something more powerful that will tip the balance. I need greater control."

Kilobyte looked down at the rig spread out before him. His eyes roved over it, taking in every detail in the dim light. He paused as he saw the silver sphere on his right. It was small, easily able to fit in a mortal man's hand. Kilobyte reached out and lifted the metal ball from its cradle and turned it over in his fingers. He held it up before him. "Yes..."

Behind him two glowing eyes winked in the darkness. They seemed to float some four feet above the floor, and were spaced almost ten inches apart. A rumble like a spluttering motor bike engine filled the room.

Kilobyte smiled, his face reflecting off that silver sphere. "Why stop at killing the creator?"

THE END


End file.
